Hey Chanhassen!
Congrats to Dustin, who found last week's hidden $25 Tono Pizzeria gift card! Be sure to follow us on Instagram so you don't miss the next one. This week's Business Spotlight takes you inside The Spot, a brand new multi-sport simulator business just a short drive from Chanhassen. Plus, City Center Park has officially started welcoming residents, and we've got the latest on summer construction around town.
Also, be sure to check out today's sponsor, Mindstream, for some interesting ideas on how to make extra cash using AI.
What’s Chanhappenin’ This Week
⛅ Weather: Mostly warm and dry, with a Tuesday thunderstorm possible and rain returning Saturday morning
❓Trivia: What was Prince's full birth name?
🎉 Treasure Hunt: Congrats to our first winner!
⛳ Business Spotlight: The Spot
🔎 Get Featured: Want your business or event noticed?
⭐ Businesses Worth Checking Out: Repose Homes
📰 Community News: Lake Ann Park update, City Center Park opens, and which days to drop off yard waste
🗓️ Upcoming Events: Dance for Fun open house, Cars & Caves, & the Community Center groundbreaking ceremony
♾️ Weekly Events: Live music, games, & more
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Weather This Week
Warm to start the week, with a possible Tuesday thunderstorm. Wednesday through Friday stay dry and pleasant, before rain returns Saturday morning. Highs mostly in the low-to-mid 80s, with Sunday drying back out.
Chanhassen Trivia
💜 Chanhassen is home to Paisley Park, Prince's famous studio and estate. What was Prince's full birth name?
Scroll down for the answer
Gift Card Treasure Hunt
🎉 Congrats to Dustin, our first treasure hunt winner!
The $25 Tono Pizzeria gift card has been found and claimed. Thanks to everyone who was out there searching — we love seeing people get involved.
Don't want to miss the next hunt (or any future giveaways)? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook — that's the only place clues drop. 👀
Business Spotlight
The Spot — Simulator Sports, Reimagined
Just a short drive from Chanhassen, tucked into Shakopee Town Square, sits a business that started as an idea scratched out on paper — and a question most people in the golf simulator world weren't asking.
Owner Andrew Erickson had the itch to start a business years before he ever opened the doors. Pre-COVID, he and a friend floated the idea of a golf-only simulator business, but the timing just wasn’t right. Two years ago, while climbing the corporate ladder as a Senior Director at a major health insurance company, something felt missing. "We get one shot at this thing we call life," Andrew says, "and I knew if I never took a chance, I'd always wonder what if." So he went back to the drawing board — but the golf simulator business had gotten crowded, and Andrew wanted to do something different. His question: what if simulator sports weren’t just for golfers?
That question is what makes The Spot worth the short trip from Chanhassen. Yes, you can play nearly 40 championship golf courses, from St. Andrews to Pebble Beach — Andrew's quick to say "we do golf really really well" — but each private bay also opens up 30+ other sports and games in the same space. Soccer, basketball, duck hunting, alien invasions, bags, bocce, batting practice. Andrew's seeing the interest firsthand. "People keep telling me the other sports are what brought them here," he says. "They like having options."
Open for less than two weeks, Andrew's already watching his idea come to life exactly as he pictured it. "Watching families have fun playing a variety of games — having taken an idea scratched out on paper to a full-fledged active business doing exactly as I had dreamed. It's pretty cool to see."
The Spot has four private bays set up comfortably for groups of 4-6 — great for a casual afternoon with friends, a birthday party, or a full corporate event. Keep an eye out for leagues and seasonal offerings in the months ahead.
Grab your friends and book a bay — you'll be surprised how fast a couple hours flies by.
📍 1101 Shakopee Town Square, Shakopee, MN
🌐 thespotmn.com
📱 Instagram · Facebook
Get Featured
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🏪 Business Spotlight — Tell us your story and get considered for an upcoming issue.
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Community News
City Center Park, Chanhassen MN
City Center Park Starts Welcoming Residents · Part of the downtown Civic Campus project, several new spaces are now open even as construction continues elsewhere in the park: a new playground, pickleball courts, and a refreshed skate park. Not everything's ready yet — the splash pad is still closed, pickleball court lights aren't operational for nighttime play, and landscaping work continues. Young trees will provide more shade at the playground as they mature, but in the meantime the outdoor living room just north of the park building offers a shady spot to cool off. Learn more
Construction Update · A rundown on major projects around town as summer construction wraps up:
Market Blvd Reconstruction — Phase 2 wraps up mid-September. Phase 3, covering the northern stretch, includes a 2-week full closure of W 78th St and should be complete by Halloween.
Civic Campus — Nearing the finish line, with all amenities expected open to the public by Labor Day.
Roers Development (Bennett) — Vertical construction continues on both buildings, with an expected opening by mid-summer 2027.
2026 Pavement Rehabilitation — The Vasserman area is substantially complete. Fox Hollow's four phases are wrapping up through early November.
Great Plains Blvd / Lake Drive East — Repaving is underway and expected to be substantially complete by the end of September.
Lake Ann Park Preserve Update · Another step forward in the city's decades-long plan to preserve the forests and wetlands between Lake Ann and Lake Lucy: recent trail improvements are nearly finished, with restoration work continuing ahead of opening more trails to residents this fall. The city's latest "Rec Report" video breaks down the details. Watch here · Project page
Yard Waste Site Open Select Saturdays · The yard waste site at the Chanhassen Public Works Facility (7901 Park Place) will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on two upcoming Saturdays: September 19 and October 24. Guidelines and costs
Help Shape Chanhassen's Next 25 Years · The city is kicking off its 2050 Comprehensive Plan, a long-range guide that'll shape decisions on housing, parks, roads, and natural resources for decades to come. The community survey is live now, and resident input will help shape the plan through surveys, open houses, and workshops. Take the survey · Project page
The City's Been Quietly Cleaning Up 300 Ponds · Chanhassen manages roughly 300 stormwater ponds that help protect the city's lakes and neighborhoods from flooding and pollution, and over the past six years, 40 of them have gotten a deep clean — removing about 51,000 tons of sediment, or roughly 3,000 truckloads. It's remarkably cost-effective too: about $520 per pound of phosphorus removed, versus $1,000 to $5,000 per pound for building new treatment infrastructure from scratch. Read more
Support What’s Chanhappenin’
Good news — if What's Chanhappenin' has been worth your time, you can now support the newsletter directly. We just added a way to contribute, totally optional, and however much (or little) feels right to you. Every bit helps cover the costs of keeping this newsletter free and growing for the whole community.
Businesses Worth Checking Out
Repose Homes
Feeling overwhelmed by clutter at home? Kim Castillo, founder of Repose Homes, specializes in home organizing and decorating — helping turn chaotic spaces into calm, functional ones you're proud to walk into. Whether you're prepping to sell, refreshing a room, or just need help getting organized, Kim brings a personal, judgment-free approach to every space.
🌐 reposehomes1.com
Upcoming Events
Dance for Fun Open House
Mon, Aug 24 · Chanhassen Recreation Center
Last chance to try before the fall session starts Sept 8. First-timers get a free dance bag. Details
Pizza Night at the Farm
Tue, Aug 25, 5–8 PM · Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Pre-ordered pizzas with farm-fresh toppings, live music, and yard games on the Farm lawns. Get tickets
Cars & Caves — British Car Show
Sat, Aug 29, 9 AM–12 PM · Chanhassen AutoPlex · Free
This month's theme: British marques — MG, Mini, Aston Martin, Jaguar, McLaren. Explore the AutoPlex's famous "Caves" while you're there. Details
Community Center Groundbreaking Ceremony
Mon, Aug 31, 4 PM · 1351 Bluff Creek Blvd · Free
After three years of planning and a few starts and stops, the city breaks ground on the new Community Center.
Trivia Answer
Prince Rogers Nelson. It wasn't a stage name he invented — his father, a jazz musician, performed under the stage name "Prince Rogers," and named his son after it. Today, the 7-mile stretch of Highway 5 between Eden Prairie and Highway 41 in Chanhassen — right past Paisley Park — is officially the Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway. 💜
Referral Program
🎉 Check out our referral rewards!
Got a friend, neighbor, or coworker in Chanhassen who needs to know what's happenin' around town? Share your link and start racking up free local prizes:
2 referrals → $5 gift card to The O.G. Coffee & Wine Bar ☕
5 referrals → $10 Chipotle gift card 🌯
10 referrals → $15 to Tono Pizza 🍕 (go big or go home!)
Rewards are reviewed before we send them out, so let's keep it real — we're looking for genuine neighbors, not just names on a list.
The more you share, the more you earn. Let's see who hits 10 first. 👇
(referral link in email version only)
Happenin’ Every Week
Monday
The Initials Game at Hackamore Brewing – 7:00–9:00 PM
Tuesday
Live Music at Brindisi's Pub – 6:00–8:30 PM
Pizza Night at the Arboretum – 5:00–8:00 PM
Wednesday
Trivia Mafia at Hackamore Brewing – 7:00–9:00 PM
Saturday
Live Music at Moe's Char House – 6:00–9:30 PM
4th Sunday of the Month
Free Bingo at The O.G. Coffee & Wine Bar – 2:00–3:30 PM
Stay Connected
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